Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Ricky Clarke Master Coach

Ricky Clarke is director of coaching at Mission Valley United (MVU), in California USA, with sixteen years of soccer coaching under his belt its not surprising that Ricky has a host of coaching qualifications including gaining a distinction when passing the NSCAA Masters Diploma in 2010, but still keen to learn he passed the USSF youth license in 2011.

He believes that as coaches, educators and parents we have an enormous responsibility to create an environment where passion, education and creating a love for the game is at the centre for everything we do. "I want to provide all
players with a firm grounding in the fundamentals of the game, with
emphasis on maximising ball contact within a structured session. I
want to teach the techniques and tactics necessary to construct a
highly skilled, possession-based game. This promotes confidence in
the player’s own ability and further facilitates their soccer and
overall education. I like to coach a team in a style that I’d like to play on.
When I was a player, I wasn’t really big into rules and I’m still
not. I’m not into rules or meetings. I’ve always liked how words
and quotes can have a massive effect on people. Creating beliefs
and values helps develop cohesion, support and direction. I think
it’s something that everyone buys into and feels a sense of
belonging. Soccer gives us the ability to create life
learning and life changing experiences. Life Skills through soccer at the youth development level should be geared towards stimulating the player's
ability to create and appreciate the beautiful game."

The clubs goals are to grow players both as individuals and as soccer players. "For our players the environment needs to be challenging, motivating and fun. It will require a serious commitment on their part and the parents must be prepared to support their childs commitment. Our goal is to prepare our players for the future, both on and off the field. We teach them the fundamentals of soccer, Ball handling skills, passing and positioning on the field is stressed over and over again, as these techniques are critical for success in all levels of the game. Equally, if not more importantly we re-enforce non-specificsoccer skills such as communication, teamwork, time-management, responsibility, discipline and respect for all players." Parents are encouraged to support each other, the club understands that many players have siblings playing other sports, so things like carpooling are encouraged. Ricky adds "Our belief is that solid, committed players who benefit from positive coaching, an atmosphere of respect and teamwork, and strong parental support will ultimately result in a winning program. Its our teams belief that with strong commitments from our players and parents our club will continue to develop and grow."

The chosen system of play at MVU for 8v8 is a 1-3-3-1 system. Ricky says "The soccer formation
you choose can have a huge impact on how well your team plays. Although coaches are given the flexibility to change this as they see fit in accordance with trying to be competitive in all games. This
formation allows teams to play with balance, support and creativity. It
also provides us a smooth transition from 8v8 to 11v11. Teams are encouraged to
play with a style that reflects a developmental approach"

MVU have identified
key factors to support their philosophy:

players are
expected to be able to defend as an individual and as a team

players are
encouraged to react quickly in transition, offensive and defensive

teams are excepted
to play out of the back

teams are expected
to understand position rotation and interchange during a game

teams are
encouraged to play forward, making passes that take teams out of the
game

teams encourage
their players to express themselves, however at the right time and
correct areas of the field

The long term development model used at MVU identifies five areas for player development - technical, tactical, social, psychological and physical. Coaching plans should clearly incorporate all five, with a change of emphasis at each development stage. The model provides recommendations for minimum and maximum coaching time at each stage. Equally important to the players development is the quality of coaching, so regular assessment of developmental objectives for both players and coaches ensures they receive the correct level of instruction and support. Small sided game formats are seen as being extremely effective in the development of ball skills and game awareness, as players have increased opportunity to have contact with the ball. In the later stages of players development coaches can use this format to introduce phases of play without the pressures of 11v11. Here is an example of a typical training plan for stage 3 of the model:

1 comment:

This is truly a useful blog which give essential coaching tip to youth soccer. These training sessions for soccer are fun for everyone. These tips are helpful for encouraging and motivating players to get the best possible performance. Thanks a lot.